225 Years
by lifelessMage
Summary: It had been 225 years and he hadn't aged a day. Then again, if Jack were to say it was weird then he would have been a hypocrite. But what he didn't get was what Ianto had to do with any of this.


"What'd ya think it is?" Jack asked, peering at the computer screen that showed the camera view of the cells.

"Well, it's clearly something disguised as a human." Murmured Gwen, eyeing the blonde humanoid shape in the cell to the left of Janet.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Quipped Owen, coming up on the right of Jack. Gwen glared at him, snapping back a reply angrily.

"Well, you got anything better?"

"Whatever it is, it certainly did a good job." Pondered Toshiko as Owen raised both his hands into the surrendering position. "Look, there isn't a single fault in its design."

"Yeah…"

"Hey, Jack, how did you know that was an alien, anyway?" Gwen turned to Jack, remembering how he had burst in long strides in the middle of the Cardiff.

_EPIC FLASHBACK OF DOOM WAS BORN INTO EXISTANCE_

_It had been a long day of Weevil hunting and Jack had decided to treat the gang to a night at the pub, although Ianto had declined, saying he had some family business to attend to; something about an annoying, little brother. Funny thing was that Jack was sure he hadn't heard him talk about having a brother before… maybe his memory was going faulty with age? _

_So, without Ianto, the Torchwood team was walking across the courtyard on the way to the local pub and discussing wether tomato was a fruit or vegetable when Jack saw _him_. The sandy blonde hair and green eyes were the same as they had been years ago, when he had first seen the stranger who seemed to be talking to thin air. Even those… _things_, the outstanding features on him, were exactly the same. _

_It just wasn't possible._

_For a human._

_EPIC FLASHBACK OF DOOM JUST DIED_

As Jack opened his mouth to answer back when a voice rose from the monitor, addressing them all.

"Are you wankers going to be letting me out of here any time soon? I have a meeting I'm missing for being stuck in your bloody awful smelling cell."

Even his strict, British accent was the same.

"Should we go down to talk to him?" Gwen turned towards Jack, sending him a enduring look. "He obviously understands English well enough, and it would be inhumane to leave him there much longer, especially since he has no objections to talking to any of us."

"Or thin air." Owen pointed to the screen, where the English man appeared to be scolding something invisible that was hanging about mid-air. "Look Jack, he may be delusional or something, but I don't really see anything else unusual about him."

Frowning at his teams lack of faith in him, Jack turned around and began to walk towards the cell.

"Fine; I'll do the questioning myself."

**'Leave it safe, special access.' They said.**

**For who?**

**Torchwood.**

"Oh; it's you."

"What're you."

"Lovely way to greet people; no manners at all, you Americans." Green eyes dug into the person opposite them, disapproval evident in their gaze.

"What, and a bullet through the temple is much better?" Drawled Jack, completely unaffected by the glare.

"You snuck up on me."

"It was war."

"I could use the same excuse." Jack 'hmm'ed; that was true. "What is your excuse this time?"

"Why are you still alive after 225 years, looking the exact same as you did back then?"

The man snorted, leaning back into the wall in the cell, completely disregarding the fact that there was a snarling Weevil on the other side, and somehow managed to make the motion look sophisticated.

"Once again you use something that could be sent straight back at you; last year of the war, I believe? A shot straight through the forehead; my aim is never wrong." The tone of smugness could be heard in his voice, although Jack could pick some hurt in his eyes, seemingly remembering some sort of pain caused by the war.

"So are you going to tell me what you are?" Jack returned to the original subject; he was here to question the blonde, not the other way around.

"I can not." Stated the man, meeting Jack's eyes. "I'm sure you can understand."

"Reasonably well. I assume you can understand that I can't exactly let you out until I do know?"

"Unfortunately." The blonde frowned, his green eyes narrowing in annoyance slightly before he let out a sigh. "I guess I won't make that meeting then…"

"Nope, 'fraid not. Just all if you need anything, the monitor will be on." Jack turned to leave, but was halted by the man's voice echoing down the hall.

"I don't suppose I could have a cup of tea?"

"Nuh, our tea boy's out at the moment."

"Great, just bloody great. What about a name?"

"Captain Jack Harkness, at your service, Mr. …?"

"Kirkland. Arthur Kirkland."

As Jack left the cells, he caught the man muttering under his breath.

"Of course. It just _had_ to be_ Captain Jack bloody Harkness_."

**Am I Catholic...or Protestant? Gosh, I don't know…**

"Here's the research on Arthur Kirkland." Gwen dumped the pile of papers on Jacks desk and frowned at him. "It's weird, he pops up everywhere. Almost like you, only he's not."

"How so?" Jack met her eyes for a minute before glancing down at the pile. It was a large pile for someone who looked like he was in his twenties.

"Like here," Gwen picked the pile up again and pulled off the first few pages and began to read out various facts of the page. "In 0360 AD, a young boy by the name of Arthur Kirkland was charged repetitively by the priest for having long hair, which was currently illegal. Two descriptions were given in around the time, the first was 'a mess of sandy blonde hair, green eyes and enormous eyebrows', given in by the priest, and the second was actually given in six months after; 'a young boy whose head looks like it's been eaten by a golden caterpillar', admitted by a French boy who was proceeded to be chased out of the country by a boy matching the first description."

Jack had to raise his eyebrows at that; if it was the same person, that certainly meant they hadn't seen much of the personality of Arthur Kirkland.

"And then in the six hundreds," Gwen continued, placing the pile of sheets currently in her hands face up on the desk before picking up another pile of sheets from the large stack in front of her. "He makes another major appearance, although he appears several other places in England between 0360 and 1607, but this time he appears in America." Disregarding the top three pages of the pile, which Jack assumed were the 'minor' appearances she had just spoke of.

"See, here he appears with a French man -matching the same description of the French boy in the previous story, mind you-"

"Are you suggesting that there may be more people like Mr. Kirkland?" Jack cut through Gwen's recap, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"If so, what does that make them? Aliens who have invaded or people who have lived among us for centuries?" Gwen questioned. "If you wait until I finish reporting, maybe we can muse over theories then?" After receiving a nod from her Captain, she continued to report.

"So the two were fighting over a young boy who had been reported to have been spotted all over the settlements in early America and this continued for a while. After a couple of years, our Mr. Kirkland was reported to have adopted the child and was raising him, single handedly. The description for the boy was blonde, blue eyes and glasses and a cowlick."

That was impossible.

"Why's that?" Hmm, he must have said that out loud. Jack stared at the wall behind Gwen's head, remembering back to the day he had signed up for the war and the loud and cheery blonde who had been the commander of his troop and had assigned him the position.

"It was during the War of Independence and I had just been assigned Sniper. My commanding officer told me I didn't have to take the position… he matched that description right down to the cowlick…" Funny thing was that he couldn't remember his name. Frowning, Gwen flicked through the pile of papers -Jack was sure he saw the words 'pirate' somewhere in that lot- and pulled out a thick wad.

"This was all from around the time of the War of Independence, some soldiers said they saw the two in the final battle, but they were addressing each other weirdly."

"Weirdly? How so?"

"They stated that the two referred to each other by their country names, 'America' and 'England'… it's all rather confusing, as after 'England' collapsed in defeat the entire country surrendered… people also reported that, although the two -'America' and 'England'- fought and then didn't associate for the rest of their lives, 'America's twin brother was reported to still be living with 'England' back in the UK."

"Well that is unusu-"

"Ah, sir, you're still up?" Jack and Gwen turned to the doorframe, where Ianto stood innocently, looking slightly confused. "Oh, I'm sorry, am I interrupting something? I can always come back later."

"No, no, no, no. It's fine, come in." Jack smirked slightly, waving his arms in a welcoming manner. "I thought you were going to meet your brother? Decided we were better company?"

"No; my brother didn't turn up and I realized I had left my stop watch here, so I decided to come and get it." Ianto replied, his voice a little drier then usual.

"Ah; it should be behind the pot plant in the corner." Jack pointed to the fern in the corner and then rested his chin on his hands, undoubtedly watching Ianto's ass as he walked over to the pot plant and retreated the gold watch. "Is there a problem with your brother not turning up?"

"Yes; the little twerp represents the family in some important meetings and has to make monthly checks with the each family member to make sure they're satisfied with all the arrangements; and he didn't show." Both Jack and Gwen rose an eyebrow at the unusual insult that slipped from Ianto's mouth. Noticing his workmates expressions, Ianto sighed deeply. "Sorry, sorry. He just… gets under my skin. A lot."

"Eh, we all have people who do that." Jack leant back in his chair and smirked. "But I think we may be referring to the different type of 'under the skin'."

After sending his boyfriend a dry look at the same time as Gwen did, Ianto motioned to the piles of paper on Jack's desk, stop watch in hand.

"So what's all this for?"

"Jack's new 'alien-in-suspicion'." When she receiving a raised eyebrow, Gwen explained further. "Jack's found someone who he claims is an alien because he saw him 200 years ago." This time, both eyebrows went up.

"Oh, really? Hmm… what's his name?" Jake straightened up and stretched his arms, watching Ianto's face with slight suspicion.

"He claims to be an Arthur Kirkland." This time he knew he saw something cross Ianto's face; conflict. Gwen appeared to have seen it too, as she was watching Ianto closely now, clearly able to see the battle raging in his eyes.

"Gwen." Gwen turned to face Jack, sending him a look. "Thank you for the research; I'll see you tomorrow." Gwen opened her mouth to protest, but then appeared to think better of it and nodded before leaving the office, which remained silent until the door into the hub was heard opening and closing again five minutes later.

"How d'you know him?"

"Can I talk to him?" Avoiding the question, Ianto refused to meet Jacks eyes.

"Not until you tell me how you know him."

Silence.

"He's my brother." It was Jack's turn to raise an eyebrow, his eyes clashing with Ianto's as Ianto lifted his head to stare defiantly at Jack. It was obvious to anyone who knew Ianto well that he was feeling defensive, protecting himself from any hurt that could come to him, emotional or physical. "I assume you know that means."

"Maybe; care to explain."

"Not really." Sighing, Ianto placed himself in the comfy chair on the other side of the desk.

"Where to start?"

"How about the basics?" Suggested Jack, now grinning cheekily again, although it wasn't as strong as his last smirk.

"That was rhetorical." Ianto looked at the desk again before going back to eye contact. "My family and I are… different."

"I'd guessed as much." Ianto shook his head.

"No, it really is hard to explain. We're immortal, but not in the context that you are. We can die-"

"Then it's not really immortal, is it?" Chipped in Jack, earning himself a glare from Ianto.

"No, not really. Fine then; we're mortal, but not in the way humans are. We live as long as our people live on."

"Your people?"

"I do believe you read the bit about the War of Independence and how Arthur and Alfred addressed each other by their country names?" Ianto inquired, unaware that he had just jolted Jack's memory.

"Ah.. That was it… Alfred. Alfred F. Jones." Jack realized the look he was receiving. "Ah, yes, we've done that bit." After a moment of silence, Jack raised an eyebrow at Ianto again. "Well?"

"I do believe you're smart enough to connect the dot's, Jack." Sighed Ianto.

"Oh. _Oh._" Jack paused before frowning. "Why are you telling me this?"

"You asked." Ianto reminded him.

"No, but I gave you the choice." Jack leant forward. "I gave you the choice to explain; you did. Why?"

"Well," chuckled Ianto. "Either you heard it from me or you would be on the receiving end of a hysterical Alfred who would want to know exactly where Artie was and -when he finds out you're holding him- what right you had to be holding 'Iggy' in a cell."

"Ah." Jack smirked; he could see the hyper blonde doing that, from what he'd seen of the boy. "But, wait, weren't they at war?"

"Yeah, and then they got over it, although Artie still coughs up blood sometimes at the mention of the War of Independence." Ianto actually snickered a bit, which surprised Jack just a little; Ianto didn't appear to be the spiteful type. "Yeah, they got over it alright."

"Aren't they brothers?" Questioned Jack skeptically.

"Not by blood; none of us are." Ah, that explained a bit.

"Well, then I suppose we should let him out, then." Jack went to rise from his chair but was halted by a hand on his shoulder.

"I think he can wait until morning." Ianto was smirking now, something that caused Jack himself to smirk. Not only was this rivalry between the brothers interesting, it was also reasonably good looking.

"Then you wouldn't mind staying with me until morning, hmm?"

"And why would I need to do that?"

"Oh, you never know, I may need backup if he tries to escape."

"You're immortal, Jack."

"So is he."

**That is so Welsh.**

**What?**

**I show you something fantastic; you find fault.**

Jack and Ianto were rudely awoken by the sound of the metal door to the hub being bashed into a thick, concrete wall that refused to break. Or, at least, that's what it sounded like. And to be completely honest, it wasn't that far away from the truth, considering that when Jack managed to find his pants and shirt and get out there, there was a hole in the large, circular door and a person looking in the trash can that belong next to Owens desk, a messy trail of papers behind him.

Only when Ianto joined Jack on the balcony outside his office, took in the sight in front of him and groaned at the thought of cleaning it all did the blonde notice his audience.

"Ah! Hi dudes! Yo, Yan, you or Jack seen Iggy? I know he's around here somewhere; I can hear his mobile!" And, indeed, the phone that Owen had taken out of Arthur's bag and placed in a plastic bag was blaring out 'Holding Out For A Hero' in Jack's office.

A quick glance at the screen before he tossed it to Alfred showed Jack that the contact ringing was currently labeled 'The Hero :)', and based on the two personalities, he would have to guess Alfred was the one who added the contact.

The look that flashed across Alfred's face was one of hurt before his face went blank and he looked up at the two men still on the balcony.

"Where is he?"

"Al-" Started Ianto, but was cut across by an angry America.

"Where. Is. He?"

Jack opened his mouth to answer but Ianto shook his head at him.

"Don't." Raising his voice, he turned to Alfred. "I'll lead you there, it was just a bit of a mix up, don't worry." The piercing glare remained on his back as he turned back to Jack's office to get the keys and whispered in Jack's ear as he went. "Unless you want everything down there trashed and a Weevil set free by accident, don't tell him where."

Grabbing the keys, Ianto motioned for Alfred to follow him and Jack trailed after him as well. Once they got to the cell, Alfred raised his fist as though to smash the glass but a hand caught his.

"Al, don't, you really want to cover him in glass shards?" Alfred looked down at Arthur, who appeared to be sleeping in a rather uncomfortable position and shook his head.

"Nah, Iggy'll be hurt if I do…"

Nodding, Ianto unlocked the door into the cells and stepped out of the way as Alfred rushed in and pulled Arthur into a choking hug, waking up his boyfriend in the process.

"What the- BLOODY HELL, ALFRED, LET ME BREATH!" Instead of letting go of him, Alfred just pulled Arthur off the bench and proceeded to spin him around in circles; how was a miracle, considering they were in a _small cell,_ but Alfred was a man of miracles, so it worked.

"Ianto Jones, you owe me big time." Arthur scowled and glared at his brother after he was set free from Alfred's death glomp, and Ianto glared right back at his younger brother.

"I owe you nothing. You didn't turn up to the meeting on time."

"Because of _your_ Torchwood team."

"Never stopped you when I worked at Torchwood One."

"WHY YOU-"

"Okay, 's enough guys!" Alfred called out, holding back Arthur as he went to leap at Ianto. "Nice seein' ya, broski's! Later!" Dragging the raging blonde out the door, Alfred waved goodbye and their voices could be heard as they exited the hub.

"HEY! Wait a minute… isn't he meant to be dead?"

"Alfred, you bloody idiot."

"Whaaaaaat?"

**Bring on the fire...bring on the hell...set everything ablaze so that no trace remains...**

Okay, so maybe not my best piece of work, but I had to get it out of my head. This is a little head cannon of mine (and StargateNerd's) that I just had to get down on paper. If there's any confused readers, send in a PM or Review and I shall try to clear it up as best as I can~

Review if you liiiked~


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